By Hassan Osman Kargbo
The growing dispute between the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally over his membership status has developed into more than a disagreement over party records. It is now raising questions about internal party authority, membership verification and the rules that should govern the party’s 2028 flagbearer process.
The latest confrontation began after SLPP National Chairman Jimmy Batilo Songa directed Tarawally to stop presenting himself as an SLPP member or flagbearer aspirant. The chairman’s position followed correspondence from the Citizens Democratic Party (CDP), which reportedly stated that Tarawally remains a member of the CDP.
The SLPP has since reinforced its position through its National Publicity Secretary, Moses Sellu Mambu, who said the party’s membership verification exercise found that Tarawally’s membership could not be established from its current records. Mambu also stressed that the exercise was not directed at Tarawally alone and that several other individuals were being reviewed.
But Tarawally has refused to accept the party’s position.
He maintains that he formally resigned from the CDP in 2018 and subsequently returned to the SLPP. He has cited a resignation letter dated June 15, 2018, as evidence and says he remains a fully paid up SLPP member. He has also argued that his participation as an accredited delegate at the SLPP’s 2025 National Delegates Conference raises questions about the party’s current position.
This creates one of the central questions in the dispute: if Tarawally was recognised sufficiently to participate in the party’s highest gathering and vote, what changed between that process and the current membership verification exercise?
The SLPP, however, appears to be treating the matter as an issue of official records and membership requirements rather than political disagreement. Its leadership has maintained that membership must be properly established and that individuals representing the party must meet its rules.
Tarawally, on the other hand, has challenged not only the membership allegation but also the authority of the National Chairman to issue such a directive. He has argued that removing or disciplining a party member should follow the appropriate procedures under the party’s constitution rather than being determined by one office holder. He has also indicated that his legal team is considering possible legal options.
The dispute therefore places the SLPP before an important institutional test. The issue is no longer simply whether Tarawally is a member. It is also about what documents constitute proof of membership, how conflicting records should be resolved and which party organ has the final authority to determine membership status.
For Tarawally, the issue is equally significant because his continued recognition as an SLPP member is directly connected to his political activities and his stated ambition to contest for the party’s flagbearership.
For the SLPP, allowing an unresolved membership dispute involving a prominent aspirant to continue publicly could create uncertainty within its structures. On the other hand, resolving the matter through transparent procedures could provide clarity for both the party and its members.
At present, the two sides remain firmly apart. The SLPP says its records and the CDP’s confirmation support its position, while Tarawally insists that his 2018 resignation and subsequent SLPP membership records prove otherwise.
The next stage could therefore determine whether the dispute remains an internal party confrontation or moves into formal disciplinary, regulatory or legal proceedings. Until the competing records and claims are formally settled, the question of Tarawally’s SLPP membership remains contested.
